This site presents the idea that birds developed from pterosaurs.
This is a credible alternative to the current, mainstream idea that birds developed from land-based dinosaurs.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

More detail on the major branches

http://www.owlpages.info/downloads/A_Phylogenomic_Study_of_Birds_Reveals_Their_Evolutionary_History.pdf
"The largest clade in Neoaves was a well supportedland bird clade (green, node F, Fig. 2)
(3) that contained the Passeriformes (perching
birds, representing more than half of all avian
species), which is allied with several morphologically
diverse orders. These included Piciformes
(woodpeckers and allies), Falconiformes (hawks
and falcons), Strigiformes (owls), Coraciiformes
(kingfishers, hornbills, rollers, and allies), Psittaciformes
(parrots), Coliiformes (mousebirds), and
Trogoniformes (trogons). One of the most unexpected
findings was the sister relationship
between Passeriformes and Psittaciformes (node
A, Fig. 2), with Falconidae (falcons) sister to this
clade. This relationship varied slightly among
analyses and gene-jackknifing (Fig. 1), yet the
close relationship between passerines with parrots
and/or falcons appeared consistently.
Sister to the land birds is the Charadriiformes
(shorebirds, gulls, and alcids; yellow, node G,
Fig. 2). This grouping seems to be driven primarily
by the b-fibrinogen gene (FGB), because
it was present in analyses of only this gene and
disappeared when the gene was removed through
jackknifing (Fig. 1). Regardless of the exact
placement of the Charadriiformes in our analyses,
we consistently support that this order is not
basal within Neoaves (24) and thus refute the
hypothesis that transitional shorebirds gave rise
to allmodern birds (7). Our phylogeny revealed a
highly supported water bird clade (blue, node H,
Fig. 2) (3, 14), including members of the
Pelecaniformes (totipalmate birds), Ciconiiformes
(storks and allies), Procellariiformes (tubenosed
birds), Sphenisciformes (penguins), and
Gaviiformes (loons)."

But notice that they have lumped the shorebirds, gulls, and alcids together.

The fossil recordsupports the pterosaur-to-bird theory. The fossil record does not support the dinosaur-to-bird theory.

Note

This site presents the idea that pterosaurs (rather than dinosaurs) developed into birds. This is not an "evolutionism" vs. "creationism" issue.An "evolutionist" can say that the pterosaur to bird developments are due to neo-Darwinian means (random mutation and natural selection).On the other hand, a "creationist" can say that those developments are the acts of a higher intelligence.This site does not take a position on the "evolutionism" vs. "creationism" question.

Philosophy and Such

Like most people, I have philosophical ideas that go beyond the nuts and bolts of the scientific analysis of the origin and development of birds.There are larger questions that philosophers have grappled with since the most ancient times. If anyone is interested in my take on those more philosophical ideas, click here.But please realize that all the ideas of this site are pure materialist, scientific ideas supported by physical evidence and scientific studies.

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer astutely summarized the three stages through which all truth passes: first, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed;

and third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Keywords

origin of birds, pterosaur is the ancestor of modern birds, birds did not evolve from dinosaurs, cladistics, stratocladistics, Cretaceous, Mesozoic, fossil record, BAD, BAND, birds are not dinosaurs, flightless birds, aves